24h Le Mans
The track stayed dry all the way through the first qualifying session for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, meaning the 60 drivers entered in the race were able to put their foot down and aim for a benchmark lap time. The Porsche, Toyota and Audi teams fought it out at the front, with Porsche prevailing this time. The #2 car sits at the top of the standings board after Neel Jani recorded a lap at 3:19:733 early on in the proceedings.
In the battle for the best lap, Audi and Toyota set off with a slight handicap after the free practice session. Audi had issues with a front axle, meaning the #8 car was not ready to go out at the start of qualifying. Meanwhile, there were major repairs on the #6 over at Toyota after Stéphane Sarrazin left the track towards the end of the practice session. Although Porsche has the edge so far, Audi and Toyota are lying in wait and may well launch their attack on Thursday evening.
There was suspense in the race for the fastest time in the other categories too. In LM P2, G-Drive Racing led the way with the Oreca 05 (#26), ahead of the two Alpine A460s (#35 in front of #36). René Rast even ventured to improve on his car’s best time with just fifteen minutes left to go, achieving 3:36:605. Meanwhile, in LM GTE Pro, things started to hot up after the first quarter of an hour. There were two Fords out in front but Gianmaria Bruni, at the wheel of the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE, was quick to retaliate. In the end, however, Ford moved back in front and the two cars fielded by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team USA currently occupy the top two spots in the standings, #68 in front of #69. In LM GTE Am, Emmanuel Collard held the lead for a while in his #83 Ferrari 458 Italia with a lap time of 3:57:742. He was later surpassed by the #55 Ferrari AF Corse and then by Rob Bell, at the wheel of the #61 Ferrari 458 Italia from Clearwater Racing. Ultimately, it was Bell in the Ferrari who obtained provisional pole in the class at the end of the session.
Absent from this first round of qualifying was the CLM P1/01 fielded by Team ByKolles, after it suffered a fire during the practice session. The red flag was only brought out once at this first qualifying round after Fisichella’s #82 Ferrari 488 GTE left the track at the Porsche Curves.
Qualifying Round 2 begins this evening, Thursday, at 19:00.
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Photo: Porsche holds the first two places on the provisional grid at the end of the first round of qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
